23 cities bid to host UK-based EU agencies after Brexit

(BRUSSELS) - The EU Commission began assessment Tuesday of Member States' applications to host the two European Union agencies currently based in the UK, with 23 cities putting in bids.

The EU Council said it had received 27 proposals by the Member States to host the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA).

The two agencies will need to be relocated in the context of the UK's withdrawal from the EU. The future locations need to be decided by common agreement of the EU27 member states.

On 22 June 2017, in the margins of the European Council (Article 50), the EU27 leaders endorsed a specific procedure for this decision. The first step was the submission of offers by the member states by 31 July 2017.

European Medicines Agency

These are the cities proposed to host the EMA, as on 1 August 2017:

Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

Athens (Greece)

Barcelona (Spain)

Bonn (Germany)

Bratislava (Slovakia)

Brussels (Belgium)

Bucharest (Romania)

Copenhagen (Denmark)

Dublin (Ireland)

Helsinki (Finland)

Lille (France)

Milan (Italy)

Porto (Portugal)

Sofia (Bulgaria)

Stockholm (Sweden)

Malta (Malta)

Vienna (Austria)

Warsaw (Poland)

Zagreb (Croatia)

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines in the EU. The EMA is essential to the functioning of the single market for medicines in the EU.

European Banking Authority

These are the cities proposed to host the EBA, as on 1 August 2017:

Brussels (Belgium)

Dublin (Ireland)

Frankfurt (Germany)

Paris (France)

Prague (Czech Republic)

Luxembourg-City (Luxembourg)

Vienna (Austria)

Warsaw (Poland)

The European Banking Authority (EBA) works to ensure effective and consistent prudential regulation and supervision across the European banking sector. Among other tasks, the EBA assesses risks and vulnerabilities in the EU banking sector through regular risk assessment reports and EU-wide stress tests.

Assessment criteria

The applications will be assessed on the basis of six criteria agreed by the 27 member states:

guarantees that the agency will be operational when the UK leaves the EU

accessibility of the location

schools for the children of the staff

access to the labour market and health care for the employees' families

business continuity

geographical spread

The Commission will publish an assessment of the offers based on the agreed criteria by 30 September 2017.